1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a tube separator which uses a pair of blocks each having vertically and linearly aligned and interdigitated connectors which connect to joined tubes for separating the joined tubes into individual tubes.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A variety of tubes such as vacuum tubing, fuel emission tubing and fuel lines are commonly vulcanized in groups where the tubes are aligned parallel and in contact with each other. During the vulcanization process, the tubes are joined together along the longitudinal edges thereof.
Heretofore, the tubes have been separated from each other manually. This method is slow, tedious and relatively expensive.
Automatic separators would greatly improve the efficiency of separating the joined tubes. Automatic separator have been previously employed to separate various other items such as strips of paper, sheets of paper, and other paper-thin materials. One such separator has been disclosed in the U.S. Pat. No. 3,507,429 to Cunningham, issued on Apr. 21, 1970. The Cunningham reference discloses the use of a plurality of pairs of extending fingers. The fingers are attached to a chain which is trained around a sprocket. An individual finger of each pair of fingers is attached to an adjacent link and lies adjacent to the other finger of the same pair. As the chain moves around a convex portion of its path the fingers separate, thus separating an individual carrier from the strip material. The separators however are not capable of separating joined tubes into individual tubes.